Transfigurations

Welcome to Transfigurations! This blog is intended to serve the orthodox Anglican community and the wider Christian community. We pray that all that is posted here will be faithful to the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, speak the truth in love, edify, bless and transform this local body of Christ, and be an impetus for revival, repentance, prayer and intercession!

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Ah, I have kept Him waiting when I ought not...

Ah, I have kept Him waiting when I ought not, but He has waited even then. Always waiting - so patient with my foolishness, my weakness, my fear. Our fellowship is with God, and fellowship is friendship, and friendship means that partnership which, on His part, is the accommodating of His strength to my weakness. ...G. Campbell Morgan image

Sleeping Dogs Compilation

Friday, October 05, 2012

The Finest Young Sportswriter in America

The Finest Young Sportswriter in America
It may surprise you to learn the finest young sportswriter---perhaps the finest young writer period---in America is a Christian. It's true: Thomas Lake, all of 31 years of age and currently a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, graduated from Gordon College in Massachusetts.

Lake has drawn major attention for his long-form journalism, which expertly mixes soaring set pieces and ground-level investigation. In most cases a journalist excels at either the craft of storytelling or the labor of research. Lake succeeds in both areas, and a third of far greater importance: writing with genuine moral vision borne of faith in a risen Christ. Readers new to Lake should start with the stunning "The Boy They Couldn't Kill," "2 on 5," "The Way It Should Be," and "Bad Nights in the NFL." Be prepared to shed tears as you read these stem-winding articles...

Scrolling around...October 5th, 2012

Morocco denies entry to Dutch "abortion ship"
Morocco blocked a Dutch "abortion ship" from entering one of its harbours on Thursday during a campaign group's first attempt to visit to a Muslim country to raise awareness about safe methods of abortion...

Your right to resell your own stuff is in peril
Tucked into the U.S. Supreme Court’s busy agenda this fall is a little-known case that could upend your ability to resell everything from your grandmother’s antique furniture to your iPhone 4.
At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine in copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those products... ...That’s being challenged now for products that are made abroad and if the Supreme Court upholds an appellate court ruling it would mean that the copyright holders of anything you own that has been made in China, Japan or Europe, for example, would have to give you permission to sell it...

NAACP Official: Obama Campaign Staffer Threatened Me
...Lowery says he doesn’t personally support the president because he’s not addressing issues important to the black community. He said he was explaining that to Raymond when the Obama campaign official told him, “You know what? I know everything about you.”...

Jesus’ Ex-Wife-Another much-hyped Gnostic “gospel” fails to upend Christianity
Jesus had a wife! It’s the Gospel of Judas all over again. An exotic Gnostic document claimed to date from the fourth century,* written in Coptic, containing something startling about Jesus, and shrouded in secrecy until its sudden and dramatic unveiling. Next comes the derecho of media publicity, the carefully timed television documentary, the speculation that this means the end of Christianity as we know it, and then, with the finality of a soufflé collapsing as the oven door opens, the revelation that the document isn’t, or may well not be, exactly what its promoters say it is...

Wesley J. Smith: Can Muslim Doctors Refuse to Treat the Opposite Sex?
...The provocative question of medical conscience is an inescapable consequence of multiculturalism. But the reality of our profound moral differences doesn’t mean that we don’t have the duty to establish enforceable ethical norms to govern the practice of medicine and associated disciplines, as we also strive to protect people from doing that with which they profoundly disagree. It won’t be easy. These issues cut to the core of culture and personal beliefs, which is why medical conscience rights will be an emotional bioethical flashpoint for many years to come...

How Many American Catholics Should Receive Communion?
Placing particular emphasis on the gay marriage issue, John J. Myers, the Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, maintained in a pastoral letter here that Catholics who cannot assent to the Church’s teachings on marriage and the family “must in all honesty and humility refrain from receiving Holy Communion until they can do so with integrity.” Many reacted to the letter as if it were unprecedented, but I do not believe it is...

Christian women and children airlifted to South Sudan
Barnabas Fund is airlifting Christians from Sudan amid tensions following the South's secession last year.
The organisation, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, has so far flown around 500 Christians to South Sudan as part of a major operation to rescue 2,000 women and children trapped in the North...

Archbishop Tutu: Please, Apologize to the Jews
The website of the Free Gaza Movement, a sponsor of the Gaza Flotilla, lists some impressive celebrity endorsements. One of the most impressive names on the list is that of Desmond Tutu, revered throughout the world for his courageous stand against South Africa’s apartheid government and for his leadership of initiatives like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which did so much to heal the wounds apartheid left behind.
But there was something the Free Gaza Movement didn’t tell the archbishop: its co-founder and board chair is a Jew-hater named Greta Berlin who uses the organization as a platform form which to spread the ugliest anti-Semitic legends and, literally, Nazi propaganda and lies...

USDA diversity training session asked people to chant, "our forefathers were illegal immigrants"
...Conservative group Judicial Watch made the claim this week as it released a handful of documents pertaining to the program -- and alleged that the sessions held by the Department of Agriculture ended up enforcing political views more than promoting tolerance.
"Instead of being diversity-oriented or tolerance-oriented, it's more about adopting a mindset," said Lisette Garcia, a senior investigator with the group. "It seemed to go so far as to encourage illegal immigration."...

Thursday, October 04, 2012

May the fiery and sweet strength of Thy love...

May the fiery and sweet strength of Thy love, I pray Thee, O my Lord, absorb my soul, and make all things under heaven as nothing unto me, that for the love of Thy love I may die, as Thou didst deign to die for love of mine. Amen. ...St. Francis of Assisiimage

C/2012 S1 comet heading toward Earth could outshine Moon in 2013

By JohnThomas Didymus

Oct 2, 2012

Russian astronomers have discovered a new comet C/2012 S1 hurtling toward Earth. Astronomers say that the comet, a two-mile-wide lump of ice and rock, may be the brightest in history and may shine brighter than the Moon when it passes close to the Earth.

According toSpace.com, Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia, discovered comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) on 21 September via images taken with a 40-centimeter reflecting telescope. The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts confirmed the discovery and announced it on 24 September.

According to National Geographic, astronomers say the comet is now approximately 615 million miles (990 million kilometers) from Earth, between the orbits of the two giant planets Saturn and Jupiter. Preliminary reports say the orbit will make its closest (perihelion) approach to the Sun on 28 November, 2013 at a distance of 0.012 AU (1,800,000 km; 1,100,000 mi) from the center-point of the Sun. Astronomers say the comet will pass approximately 1,100,000 kilometers (680,000 mi) above the Sun's surface. the restimage

Scrolling around...October 4, 2012

Mitt Romney and the Politics of Virtue
...However, public decadence is something like obscenity, in that it may be difficult to define, but you know it when you see it. In the final analysis, Governor Romney’s instincts are correct, because so much of what passes for the issues of the day--joblessness, politicians apologizing for America, entitlement reform, the unconscionable public debt--can be understood by reference to the fact that too many of our citizens and most of our leaders have forsaken the politics of virtue and instead have succumbed to decadence. And as Mr. Romney and many others understand, an American republic under such circumstances has not long to survive.

You Must Remain Trapped In Your Lifestyle
Two new quite ominous rulings in the US and the UK have demonstrated once again that the homosexual mafia will use the heavy hand of the law to enforce their iron-clad will on everyone, whether they like it or not. Until everyone submits to their agenda, they will not stop the war they have declared against faith, family and freedom.

To ensure that everyone bows down before their militant social engineering, they will oppose anyone and anything that gets in their way. And like a trusty lapdog, they have the secular state happily coming along to do their bidding. All over the West laws are being passed which grant special rights to homosexuals while taking away rights from everyone else...

Three UW professors irked at some details of Obama's rally
A trio of high-profile UW-Madison professors went public Wednesday with concerns about President Barack Obama's planned Thursday campaign rally, saying students who want to attend are unfairly being required to supply a phone number and email address to the campaign, even having to click "I'm In" to get a free ticket at the campaign's website.

"If you want to go to this hugely important and interesting event you have to register with the campaign," said political science professor Donald Downs. "That raises questions."...

New Report Alleges: EU Finances Forced Abortions
The international youth organization World Youth Alliance has released a report containing allegations that the European Union finances forced abortions, including in China, through its development aid programs...The paper speaks for itself. You find it here.

Dutch euthanasia: psychiatric and dementia patients killed
Dozens of psychiatric and dementia patients had their lives ended under the Netherlands’ controversial euthanasia laws last year.
According to Dutch media reports 13 psychiatric patients were euthanised last year, an increase of more than 500 per cent since 2010...

Judge Markus Malkmus followed the case law of the two high court cases on the subject of homeschooling, Konrad and Paul Plett. The district court ruled that the general public has an interest in counteracting the development of parallel societies and that religious or ethnic minorities must be “integrated” through schools. The judge also stated that the academic competency of the children was irrelevant because it is the state’s responsibility to insure that children are socialized in state-approved public or private schools...

A little political...October 4, 2012

Romney lands punches against subdued Obama in first debate
...Throughout the 90-minute debate in Denver, the first showdown of the presidential contest, Romney aggressively questioned the president's record while defending his own economic priorities. Meanwhile, as Obama offered a safe defense of his record and policies, Romney often interrupted and seemed eager to engage...

Barack Obama and the Mandate Of Heaven
Forget the polls, forget the focus groups, forget the media. What is occurring in the campaign of 2012 is simplicity itself: Barack Obama has lost the mandate of heaven...

It wasn't just that Obama was so bad, but that Romney was so good. Conservatives see a candidate they did not know they had, and independents see a candidate who could turn the country around. No way to predict what this will do to campaign over a week...

Romney plans major foreign policy address for next week
...The speech at the Virginia Military Institute will likely target President Obama over his handling of the violent attack on the American consulate in Libya that left four American foreign service workers dead, including the American ambassador. And the Romney campaign hopes that after a strong performance in Wednesday's debate, the Republican nominee can attack another percieved strength of the president: foreign policy...

Five Surprising Responses to the First Presidential Debate
Romney was the clear winner of the first Presidential debate tonight. He answered questions about his preparedness. He achieved what he wanted to achieve. He changed the narrative. He demonstrated remarkable control of data and detail. And he fought back effectively against the caricatures of him that have gained currency in American media and pop culture...

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Scrolling around...October 3, 2012

Baby Bust Continues: US Births Down For 4th Year
U.S. births fell for the fourth year in a row, the government reported
Wednesday, with experts calling it more proof that the weak economy has
continued to dampen enthusiasm for having children...

Christians in Europe face ‘persecution’
The seminar on Tuesday heard that Europe's Christian community was also being "marginalised" and "sidelined" on account of their views on issues such as same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

Several speakers, including MEPs, said Christians in countries like the UK faced "increasing levels of intolerance" because they had "dared" to be critical of Islam and homosexuality...

The Canyon Climb Adventure attraction will be suspended from the ceiling of the expansion of Destiny, where the science-oriented interactive amusement facility WonderWorks is being built on the third level.

Participants will walk, precariously, 70 feet off the Canyon floor, harnessed to the steel beams. Eighty-five people at a time can climb the various levels of the ropes course...

Nigeria: Boko Haram Islamists Murder Dozens of Students in Their Dorm Rooms
It was a black Independence Day celebration for the inhabitants of Mubi town, Adamawa State, as unknown gunmen, suspected to be members of Boko Haram, massacred at least 46 persons, mostly students of three tertiary institutions in the town. (All Africa)
Terrorists broke into a dormitory in northeastern Nigeria and shot several students dead. The Boko Haram members suspected in the attack killed from 26 to 46 people in the attack.

Hollywood Gets Religion, Again
The Wall Street Journal reports that the cinematic return of the biblical epic is at hand. Russell Crowe will star in Noah, with a 148-foot ark, copious animals, and a $125 million budget. Steven Spielberg is in talks to direct Gods and Kings about Moses, Warner Bros. secured a script about Pontius Pilate, and 20th Century Fox is having Ridley Scott direct Exodus. Sony is developing The Redemption of Cain, while Lionsgate will distribute Mary, Mother of Christ, promoted as a prequel to the highly-successful The Passion of the Christ. Why?...

He wasn’t talking Global South, but the Western hemisphere — and America in particular.

I’m sure he could see on our faces how eager we were for his answer. Wow, the key, we were thinking. This is huge.

He paused and smiled that memorable Steve Childers world-evangelism grin. He waited. Still waiting. Still paused. Still nothing. Hold it . . . hold it. I was almost ready to burst with, “Just c’mon already!”

The Ambulatory Specialty Surgery Center of Brooklyn on 43rd St., closed earlier this month and will reopen in October as a new medical center providing outpatient surgeries, but not abortion.

Catholic leaders claimed the clinic’s closure after 22 years as a victory for their anti-abortion effort. Abortion advocates said they had never heard of a clinic in the city closing under pressure from protesters...

School polygamy poster causes controversy in Canada
...The poster declares: “Love has no gender” and shows a variety of relationships including an image of one man and two women, and two men and one woman.
Toronto District School Board has tried to defend the poster, but has come under fire for being “blind” to its effect...The “Love has no gender” poster is one of five different designs, including one that bears the words: “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re in your school”...

One in five ‘brain dead’ patients still alive, claims lawsuit
At least one in five patients declared “brain dead” and approved as “organ donors” by one organ donation organisation, are in fact still alive and are being killed by the removal of vital organs, a lawsuit filed last week in Manhattan alleges. The suit outlines the ghoulish worst-case scenario, one that was widely dismissed as scaremongering in the early days of the development of organ transplant technology, but which is getting a second hearing amidst growing concerns that coercion and abuse are becoming increasingly common in the highly lucrative transplant business...

Rita Sparrow was part of the 40 Days for Life campaign in St. Louis but the 80-year-old woman was arrested today after sitting in a chair outside of the local Planned Parenthood abortion facility. [accused of littering!] Comments at MCJ

Pakistan: In twist, Muslims accused of blasphemy
...Hanif said dozens of Muslims led by a cleric converged on the outskirts of Karachi in a Hindu neighborhood commonly known as Hindu Goth. The protesters attacked the Sri Krishna Ram temple, broke religious statues, tore up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, and beat up the temple's caretaker, Sindha Maharaj...

World faces ageing population time bomb says UN
The world needs to take urgent action to cope with the impact of a rapidly ageing population, according to a new report, which forecast that the number of people older than 60 would surpass one billion within a decade...

Childless by choice - a decision you may live to regret
...Today, many young people are infected with the mentality of doomsayers, environmental or otherwise, who argue the polar opposite of the reproductive imperative: that humans have an obligation to become extinct in order to save Mother Earth -- for what, we’re not sure. These people might argue that it's possible to have a child for quite selfish reasons.

Still, as O'Connor suggests, we have a society that provides many temptations to self indulgence and few incentives for the sacrifices demanded by raising children: “Gone are diaper changes and ballet classes, replaced by hot yoga and shopping trips to New York City.”...

Psychologists believe that Internet addiction should be categorized like other addiction disorders as it has similar symptoms, including emotional shutdown, lack of concentration and withdrawal.

Parents have noted their children becoming angry and violent when their electronic gadgets are taken away from them, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. In other instances, kids preferred to play a videogame over eating or social interaction...

The service lets users tap into Clearwire Corp. (CLWR)’s fourth- generation wireless network and use of to 500 megabytes of data for free, the Los Angeles-based company said today in a statement. FreedomPop charges for plans with more data. For now, the service will available as a so-called beta test...

The Perils of Texting While Parenting-Nonfatal injuries to children under age five rose 12% between 2007 and 2010
...Is high-tech gadgetry diminishing the ability of adults to give proper supervision to very young children? Faced with an unending litany of newly proclaimed threats to their kids, harried parents might well roll their eyes at this suggestion. But many emergency-room doctors are worried: They see the growing use of hand-held electronic devices as a plausible explanation for the surprising reversal of a long slide in injury rates for young children. There have even been a few extreme cases of death and near drowning...

Is the Obama administration suppressing the military vote?
Voter assistance programs for the military – specifically targeted for improvement with $75 million after low military turnout in 2008 – have been left to languish by the Obama administration and the result may be depressed military turnout. Again.

The situation is especially alarming for the Mitt Romney campaign, because polls have consistently shown that Romney’s support from military voters and their families exceeds that of Barack Obama’s support by double digits...

“Obamacare will force institutions, churches and individuals to purchase abortion-inducing drugs and pay for sterilization and abortion in direct opposition to their beliefs, conscience and historic teachings of the Church,” the group of people said in a statement. “With the recent Supreme Court ruling affirming Obamacare, the future of religious freedom in America is at risk and in grave danger of being entirely wiped out.”...

LAOS - Repressive campaign against Christians in Savannakhet: three priests arrested
The campaign of repression of the Laotian authorities towards the Christian communities is getting more and more intense: in past days, the police arrested three Protestant pastors, who led the community in the villages of the district of Phin, in the province of Savannakhet. In a police raid Pastor Bounlert, head of the Christians in the district of Phin, Pastor Adang, pastor in Kengsainoy, Pastor Onkaew, pastor of the Church of Kapang were taken into custody. The police took them to the prison district with their hands and feet tied. Two other Christian leaders were arrested and transferred to the provincial prison of Savannakhet, then immediately released...

Keeping Your Faith in College
...The most important piece of advice I can give: don’t put your spiritual life on hold! During your first semester of college there are many new people to meet, as well as new experiences to have, and fascinating ideas to entertain. That’s as it should be. But it’s easy to get swept up into all this and say, “I don’t have time, but I’ll get back to my faith someday.”...

Masters, Messiahs, and Tricksters
...The Master tells the story of fictitious religious entrepreneur Lancaster Dodd, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, in a mesmerizing performance. Around 1950, Dodd is seeking to convert Americans to the doctrine of The Cause, a religious/psychological system that helps clients rediscover past lives through intense encounter and analysis techniques.

The film obviously recalls the career of L. Ron Hubbard and the birth of Scientology, but it is of much wider interest in what it suggests about the nature of charismatic religious figures...

Metaxas: Gnostic Myths for $500, Alex
Anyone who has ever watched "Jeopardy" knows that the list of categories is seemingly endless: from "Starts With 'M' " to that audience favorite, "Potent Potables."

Well, today I'd like to add "Gnostic Myths for $500, Alex."

By now, you've certainly heard about the fourth-century papyrus fragment in which Jesus purportedly refers to "my wife."...

Ethnic Cleansing of Christians in the Sinai
In events being ignored not only by the Egyptian authorities, but also by the mainstream media and human rights organizations in the West, Muslim terrorists have in recent weeks attacked Christian families and forced them out of their homes and businesses in the Sinai town of Rafah. The terrorists have threatened to pursue their jihad against Christians until all of them leave the Sinai...

While the official statement down played the attack, saying that it was aiming for an unclassified 'isolated' network, the original report of the attack claimed that the hackers targeted the White House Military Office which safeguards sensitive data like the nuclear launch codes...and White House Hack Attack

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Anglican Unscripted 51

September 29, 2012 Kevin and George weigh in on the difficulty of picking the next Archbishop of Canterbury and they also discuss the Anglican church closings around the world and the reason behind it. And Allan Haley and Kevin catch up on four weeks of legal news.